WEEK 8 of Remodel a House and Don't Divorce or Die Doing it...

WEEK 8
11 July thru 17 July

Wow beginning of another week and I now have a sinking feeling we will not meet our 1st August Deadline.  That's OK I am dealing with it.
Well its the beginning of a new week and I am dizzy with excitement.  My windows are being installed today.

Truck showing up with my windows..

Unpacking and setting up..

There was no dilly dallying with the installers.  They got to work straight away.  The front rooms were the first to go.  The guys put down tarps, etched the existing glass and then busted them out.  They then took a hammer to the aluminum frames, took them out and cleaned all round the window frame opening.  Time for some new windows.

First two windows were installed in jig time.  Then another installer came behind the first 3 and trimmed, washed and installed the screen..

Side of the house was next on hit list..

Old out...

New in....

Looking pretty even if I do say so myself.

There were five of them and they had it down patt.  Two were removing from the inside.  One was insuring all the glass was put in trash cans from the tarps.  Then they would help Mike install..
Next they went to the back of the house..

 Kitchen was next..

My new kitchen window..it will be even nicer to look out of it when the pool is done...
They completed the powder room and laundry room and then moved back to the large windows in the front of the house. 

The kitchen extension window got the heave hoe next...

Then it was onto the second largest window.  I had three individual windows before and changed it to a picture window with two smaller double hungs.  It was put together in the factory, so it was installed as one piece...

UGLY OLD...

Dam that's a big hole...

Here it comes...

I am in LOVE with my windows...Really, I love my windows.  Unfortunately they could not install the largest window in the living room because the trim moulding was the wrong size. 
They would be back first thing tomorrow to finish it up...
Did I tell you I love my windows...I sat the rest of the night, facing that picture window and working on the computer....

Early next morning Mike and his crew were back to take on the mother load of all windows....

It took them most of the day to do this window but I am over the moon with the results...
We bought our Simonton windows through Home Depot.  They have a lifetime guarantee,gold star rated and are "Just Pure Dead Brilliant (Scottish term)".
Home Depot then contracts out the installing to certified contractors.
HOME DEPOT ROCKS www.homedepot.com and so does Mike and crew from CENTRAL TEXAS Siding & Windows www.centraltexaswindows.com

On his way home from work George stopped by the store and bought himself another power tool and an Attic Fan. 

I guess he figures if he got started back on the electrical switches in the Master Bedroom, I would not notice his purchase..yeah right, nothing gets by me...

The man is a Bloody Genius.

He needs to run the new wire down through the attic. 

The attic is filled with insulation, so he drills the holes

Now do you see the wire in the hole...

 It is attached to a red flag that is up in the attic..That way George knows exactly where the hole is to run the wire down and does not need to dig through the insulation to find the hole..
I love that man..Clever Clogs..

Once again I feel really bad, as you can see from another one of his little gadgets he bought, he was working up in the attic in really hot temperatures...

George also installed one of the vent fans in the guest bathroom...

In case you were wondering, I was not sitting on my buttocks during all this.  Well I was but I was being productive since I working on the last weeks blogg while he was working..

Time to call it a night.

Next morning I got to work on cleaning the yard again.

 I removed part of the fence..

 Stacked the logs in the shed...

Then Jackie the Field Inspector for Home Depot stopped by to inspect the Siding and Windows. 

He is fabulous.  We got to talking and I told him we were installing the electrical Fan in the attic.  He said to be very careful because they can be a fire hazard if not installed properly.  Needless to say when I told George, he did some research and we have decided not to install it.  The risks seemed to great for us...

He also told me that my front gutters were getting installed today...

Sure enough not long after he left Chris Massey from Massey Aluminum Products, showed up to install my new gutters from Home Depot...

Impressive...he makes the gutters right off the back of his truck...

We opted to have the leaf guards put on since we have so many trees surrounding our house...

Now while the gutters were being installed, the side bushes were in the way of the where the new down spout was being installed.  Well I had already chopped down some of the bushes so the window installers could get to the windows so it was time to spring into action again with my handy dandy clippers and take the rest out.

All gone, just got some of that bloody Ivy left to take out but that will be another day.  It is way too hot...

Now remember Marco the Salesman for Windows and the reason we went with Home Depot.

He called me today and asked about the new windows and installation and was I happy with the results.

Now that is a GREAT SALESMAN...

George came home and got back to the electrical....

It's been a good week so far but it's a new day and my peace and quiet is about to be shattered...

Clarence the Concrete Contractor is back...Straight out the gate, he starts saying he is broke and as soon as he pours the sidewalk in the front of the house, he needs the rest of the balance...Really...

Paul, who works for Clarence, started framing out the piers for George's Man Cave.

Then he framed out the front sidewalk..

Can I say that Paul is such a hard worker.  He busted his butt in that heat with no help...

Framed out and ready for inspection

I stayed inside most of the day out of the way of Clarence..he stresses me out.

Once again George came home and works away on his electrical...

George found this mess behind the wall.  A fire waiting to happen...It's safe to say it is all disconnected and gone...

Friday turned out to be the day from Hell...

Clarence shows up bright and early.  First thing he wants is, to talk to us both..

HIM  "I need the balance paid today"

George "What about the problems with the pool cap and patio"

Him " I am real sorry and I feel bad but I can't fix it and I need money"

The conversation went down hill because George was not a Happy Camper.  I don't think I have ever seen George that angry but he is a better person  than me since he never raised his voice and kept his composure.  I on the other hand wanted to give that old man a "Glasgow Kiss" (it's not what you think) and a hard kick up the ass...lol   but that would not solve the mess in the yard we have..

He told Clarence, he would be back and would need to know how he is going to fix the cracks, the re-bar showing and the crappy surface on the Pool Cap, to name just a few of the problems...

We find out during this conversation that he has NO Business Insurance..go figure..

Well Clarence comes back while George is at work and tells me that he has someone coming early Saturday morning to look at the concrete and that this guy he knew told him that he could dig it all out and redo the pool cap.  The cracks on the patio, no options..we are stuck with them..are you Flipping kidding me.

I cannot go through having that cap busted out again..I don't think the pipes could hold up to it and my nerves are already shattered.  He thinks it might only take a few days..I cannot take the chance as we have the Pergola being built on Thursday, so far Clarence is already way over on his time frame.  He said it would only take a week to fulfill the contract.  Three weeks later he is still not finished and we had to reschedule our other contractors around him, TWICE ..

I am as sick as a Parrot..

Clarence leaves before the concrete shows up because he owes the Concrete company money...I cannot believe it, we have gave him close to $6,000 dollars already..

Paul and Ozzy are also here to get the work done..the pillars are poured first..

Then it was time for the front sidewalk..

There is a problem during the pour..At this point why am I not surprised.  Clarence did not order enough concrete, they are short on the sidewalk..

Paul calls Clarence and the Concrete Company straight away.. They wait about for another truck to show up with more concrete to finish the job..

The last pour to finish the sidewalk.

Sidewalk complete.  It's amazing that the sidewalk is perfect because the guys got to do their job without Clarence interfering..

George came home from work and we both decided digging up the pool cap is not an option.It is way too risky.  They busted pipes and the filter first time round..Clarence has got to go..His crew can finish the driveway without him..
They say that for every bad thing in life that happens, something good comes out of it.
Our silver lining in the whole concrete mess is meeting Paul.
Paul has agreed to come and work with us this weekend...

It's Friday night and we are at the Laundry Matt  doing laundry.  What an exciting life we lead...
We then stop by H. E.B and get a few essentials.  Then it homeward bound to build the temporary walls so George and Paul can get an early start tomorrow..

Needless to say I kept my mouth shut when George was measuring and did not ask any questions.  (lesson learned from last time)..lol   The walls were up lickety split...

George left before 6am on Saturday morning to go and pick Paul up..
Now before you start such an undertaking of taking out a Load Bearing Wall and putting in an Engineered Beam.  Make sure you take every safety precaution, talk to professionals, do research, have the proper tools for installation and most important, The RIGHT MATERIALS.  This is not something you want to cut corners with.  It is holding up your roof.


George and Paul checked the temporary walls and then got to work. 

They cut out around two feet of the ceiling on either side of where the beam would go to give themselves easy access and plenty of room to work.

George had been up in the attic already and moved back the insulation, so this was not that bad to clean up..

This is our initial beam that we put up weeks ago that did not pass inspection..No worries..time to do it to code...

removing the beams we installed weeks ago...

Only one to go..

beams all gone..

The guys then got to cutting the ceiling joists all the way along where the wall used to be..

Joists all cut...

Time for us to raise a BEAM....YEA HAW..

Believe me, This beam weighed a TON..

It's up and in place...Thank you Lord...

They used a jack and made sure the joists were level before bracing them to the Engineered Beam...

The beam is in and secured..Yahoo..I will now have a flush ceiling between the two rooms..

Now I was doing more than taking pics of the guys.  I was working outside on the yard again...

I cleared the rest of the Ivy out of the flower bed, bagged all the leaves and moved the bush branches to the road.  I also removed the footings from one side of the sidewalk, removed the concrete sludge and filled the trench with dirt..

No more bushes, just two little old trees...

When the guys finished raising the beam and getting cleaned up, they sat out back and had a beer.  Well deserved. It looks great.
I had been playing gopher to them all day in between what I was working on. I had made lunch and  done most of  the sweeping up as the site needed to be cleared. 
Since the guys had had a few beers, I drove to take Paul home.  George  and Paul chatted about their accomplishment all the way to Temple.
We stopped off at Las Casas for dinner.  They are known for their White Wings.  Boy it was good food and since we all stunk to high heaven, we sat out on the patio.
The Patio had fans that sprayed mists of water and it  was a nice relaxed casual atmosphere..
I think the three of us were beat after we ate... We dropped Paul off and drove home.
Now I would normally say we showered and fell into bed but considering I don't have my bed, I will say we showered and fell into the blow up mattress..

George headed out early again Sunday, picked up Paul and then stopped by Home Depot..He came home with this since he whined all day Saturday about not having one..

Whatever is going to get the job done...lol

George and Paul finished nailing down the metal tie downs that go over the beam...

George had went the extra mile with the brackets.  It was not necessary to have the ones that folded back over the beam but we wanted to be extra safe.

They finished up working on the brackets and then took down all the temporary supporting walls.

All done...  I am overjoyed..we just have to keep the plastic up until we have the inspection and do the drywall..

Wow, the room looks so big and open...

Once again I was outside in the heat..

The excess concrete and rocks that need to be removed

Looking Good..Down the road I will get the grass and plants for the flower bed..

Then I moved out front to take the other footings from the other side of the sidewalk out, fill in the trench and rake it level.   I lost count on the amount of barrow loads of dirt I have moved today.  You wouldn't think that the trenches would take that much dirt to fill, but they did...
I should have me some muscles when this is over with...

The dirt mountain is going down.

Now through this remodel, my husband has been losing weight and now ties a piece of string round his shorts to keep them up..Me, not so much.  What the hell is a girl got to do to lose weight...I have been working like a dog and sweating like a pig...I guess maybe George can bury me in the dirt pile for a few weeks and just feed me water, that might do the trick..  Somehow I think women got a raw deal on how our metabolism works compared to men..I am outraged..lol

I came in and done my Suzy Homemaker chores and cooked us all some lunch.  Maybe I should just quit eating..

The guys finished their lunch and hit the back room.

It did not take them long to get the sub flooring and floor boards up...

Imagine that, there is no insulation under this floor either...

We all learn our lesson when we do something wrong and George is no exception. 
He made sure he put the insulation in the RIGHT way in this room....

All done and now it just needs to be inspected by the city...Life is looking up..

Once again the guys finished up, cracked a beer and relaxed.  We then headed out and went to pick up dinner from SONIC..http://www.sonicdrivein.com/home.jsp before taking Paul home.  Maybe what I am eating is why I am not losing weight... :)

You know the drill.  When we got home, we showered and my wonderful Blow up Mattress was calling my name....  I don't think I will know how to get into a real bed when this is over with...

My Boo-Boo of the day..

ouch...

Well that's the end of another week..

Lessons Learned

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my new windows.

HOME DEPOT is the Diggity Bomb..

Everyone from Home Depot who worked on our Siding, Windows and Gutters from the beginning to the end have been FANTASTIC...

Always ask your Contractors to show you proof of their Business Insurance in case something goes wrong with their work..

This was a hard lesson for us to learn and an EXPENSIVE one.

Safety is a must.  It should be first and foremost during your projects.

Always put up Temporary Supporting Walls before taking out a Load Bearing Wall...

People have died doing this sort of project after their ceilings collapsed on them.

Home Depot will give me a $100 with their Refer a Friend Program, so if anyone decides to do any remodeling on Windows, Siding and Gutters and uses Home Depot after reading this,

Let me know and I will give you the code.

I can put the $100 bucks towards the thousands it will cost me to fix the concrete mess in the backyard..

Where is HGTV's Holmes on Homes when you need him...lol

Count your Blessings, Be Positive and find the Silver Lining when things go wrong.

The most important lesson this week

WEAR SUNSCREEN when working outside..

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Until next time...